In accordance with Procedure
Rules Nos.11 and 35 a total period of 10 minutes is allocated for
members of the public to address the Committee on any matter
relevant to the work of the body in question.

Individual members of the
public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman will decide
how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be
apportioned where there are a number of speakers.

Members of the public wishing to ask a
question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working
days’ notice in writing and should include the question with
that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given.

It is not required to give
notice of the intention to make use of public speaking provision,
however, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours notice is encouraged.

Minutes:

Councillor D Marren addressed the Committee on issues relating
to governance and non-compliance. He
referred to the non-payment of the minimum wage to sleep-in staff
and the Council’s report on Whistleblowing items and
procedures.

Grant Thornton presented the Audit Findings
report on the 2016/17 Audit which had been prepared in accordance
with the requirements of the International Standard on Auditing (UK
and Ireland) 260, the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and
the Audit Office Code of Practice.

The report identified key issues considered by
Grant Thornton on the Council’s financial statements and its
arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in
the use of resources. The Auditors
highlighted the key headlines including the audit adjustments and
the Annual Governance Statement.

It was reported that some changes are to be
made to the final statement to reflect the current position, value
for money, audit and audit certificate.
Due to a number of pending issues, there has been a delay in
certification of completion of the audit for the year ended 31
March 2017.

RESOLVED

That:

a)
the Audit Findings Report for 2016/17 be received; and .

b)
the letter of representation be signed by the Director of Finance
and Procurement.

To consider the report and note the changes to
the draft accounts in accordance with the audit findings
report.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the
2016/17 Statement of Accounts for Cheshire East Council and the
Cheshire East Group which provided information on the financial
assets and transactions of the Group.

The report detailed amendments to the
statement of accounts; specifically the main change affecting the
Council’s Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement
(CIES) relating to the underlying accounting treatment of reserves
and some internal recharges. The overall deficit on provision of
services remains unchanged.

RESOLVED

That:

1.
the report be received and the changes to the draft accounts be
noted in accordance with the Audit Findings Report; and

2.
delegated authority be granted to the Chairman of the Audit and
Governance Committee to sign off the final accounts on behalf of
the Committee.

Consideration was
given to the report which had been considered by Cabinet at its
meeting on 13th June 2017.

It was noted that the
Council had complied with its legislative and regulatory
requirements and had remained within all of its prudential
indicators during the year as detailed in Annex 1.

Information was
provided on financial activities during the 2016/2017 financial
year including investments, cash flows, capital expenditure,
external borrowing, banking and property funds.

In answer to Members
questions about borrowing and investing, the Committee was advised
that the Treasury Management strategy is to work on the basis
of maximising investment opportunities
and minimising borrowing requirements.

RESOLVED

That the Treasury
Management Annual Report for 2016/17, set out in Appendix A of the
report, be noted.

Consideration was given to the
report which summarised details of the management actions agreed
following the Internal Audit review of Air Quality
Management.

It was noted thatduring the preparation of the Air Quality Annual
Status Report (ASR) for submission in 2016, anomalies were
discovered by management, between the data recorded on the
Council’s systems and the source data provided by the
laboratory that analyses the monitoring equipment. Initial analysis
identified multiple anomalies in the 2016 figures, and also in
those used to complete the previous return. The Chief Executive
then requested that Internal Audit carry out a review of data
returns, and the processes in place for the monitoring, recording
and dissemination of air quality data.

Internal Audit carried out a
review of the policies, systems and procedures in place to provide
assurance that the key risks are being managed
effectively.

RESOLVED

That:

1.the management actions agreed following the review
be noted; and

2.an update on progress in implementation be provided
as part of the interim report by Internal Audit at the December
2017 meeting, be noted.

At its meeting on 1st
June 2017 the Committee had considered the draft Annual Governance
Statement (AGS) which had now been amended to take account of
feedback received at the meeting and subsequently from Members and
the External Auditors. Once finalised,
the AGS will be published on the Council’s website, along
with the Statement of Accounts.

The purpose of the AGS process
was to provide a continuous review of the organisation’s
governance arrangements so as to give assurance on the
effectiveness on the processes and/or address identified weaknesses
in order to support the continuous improvement of the
Authority.

Members received and noted the
updates to the Proposed Final Annual Governance Statement 2016/17
- Section 7 – Significant
Governance Issues arising in 2016/17.

To consider a report on the complaints,
compliments and referrals to the Local Government Ombudsman for
2016/17.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report which summarised the
formal feedback received from customers during 2016/17, together
with a summary of the cases dealt with by the Local Government
Ombudsman (LGO).

Details were given of the feedback received, broken down into
compliments (1503), suggestions (148) and complaints (1603) as
follows:

·The number of complaints had increased marginally
from the previous year – 1603 in 2016/17 compared with 1565
in 2015/16. The increase was partly
attributable to 112 complaints made to the Licensing Team as a
result of a campaign by a third party, relating to the changes to
the Hackney Carriage table of fares; interested parties were
encouraged to submit complaints with a view to seeking
recompense. None of these complaints
were upheld.

·The number of recorded compliments was 1503,
compared with 1855 in 2015/16 which related to Adult
Services.

·The recorded suggestions (148 compared to 177 in
2015/16) were neither complaints nor compliments, but often
suggested changes to policy or working practice.

·Whilst not formally recorded on the corporate
feedback system, complaints from MP’s on behalf of their
constituents had reduced significantly (18 to 30) from
2015/16.

With regard to complaints all customers were offered the
opportunity to appeal to the Local Government Ombudsman and the
report included details on the decision notices issued to the
Council.

To consider a report on the
number of complaints received under the code of conduct for Members
which have been, or are to be considered by the Acting Director of
Legal Services (in his capacity as the authority’s Monitoring
Officer) and the Independent Person for the period 1 March 2017 to
31 August 2017.

Minutes:

The Committee was
advised of the number of complaints received under the Code of
Conduct for Members which had been considered by the Acting
Director of Legal Services (in his capacity as the
authority’s Monitoring Officer) and the Independent Person,
during the period from 1 March 2017 to 31 August 2017.

The report broke down
complaints received with regard to the number of complaints made
against Cheshire East Councillors and Town and Parish Councillors;
the paragraph of the code alleged to have been breached and the
outcome of each complaint, where completed.

To consider a report on the number of 2016/17
reports and an update on a forthcoming independent review of the
Council’s whistleblowing arrangements.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which
outlined a breakdown of the number of reports received during
2016/17 and an update on a forthcoming independent review of the
Council’s whistleblowing arrangements.

Details were given on the reports received
during 2016/17, broken down as follows:

·6 did not fall under the scope of the policy and
were therefore referred to the appropriate service/organisation for
action;

·2 were unsubstantiated following
investigation;

·1 was referred to Environmental Health for further
investigation;

·1 was upheld following investigation and appropriate
remedial action taken;

·2 where it was not possible to conclude the
investigation as the officer concerned left the Council;
and

·1 referral is still subject to an ongoing
investigation.

Appropriate remedial action
will be taken to address any control weaknesses identified during
this process.

This represents an 18.75%
decrease in the total number of referrals when compared to those
received in 2015/16. However, the previous figures were
particularly high as they included 7 referrals relating to the same
procurement issue, and, when these are discounted, the year on year
figures are consistent.

With regard to the review of
whistleblowing arrangements, details on the level of support that
is to be provided to Cheshire East Council were
highlighted.

It was reported that a full desk
based review of current policy, procedures and supporting
documents, is to be benchmarked against the Whistleblowing
Commission's Code of Practice and a RAG rated report with
recommendations and an action plan for improvement is to be
provided.

This will be supported by a full
communications plan, and is expected to go live early
October.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted and the external
review of the Council’s whistleblowing arrangements be
endorsed.

Consideration was given to a report which
provided an update in relation to the independent Public Sector
Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) external assessment, which is
scheduled to take place late 2017/2018. It is a requirement of an organisation’s
internal audit function that an external assessment be carried out
once every five years by a qualified, independent assessor or
assessment team from outside of the organisation.

The appendix to the report detailed the Peer
Review – Memorandum of Understanding.

RESOLVED

That the forthcoming external assessment of
Internal Audit against PSIAS and its scope be noted and that the
Chief Executive be appointed as sponsor of the assessment.

To receive an update on the quantity and
reasons for the issue of WARNs approved between the 1st
of February 2017 and the 31st of August 2017.

Minutes:

The Committee
considered a report on the quantity and reasons for Waiver and Non
Adherences (WARNs) approved between 1 February 2017 and 31 August
2017. The report also presented the
approved WARNs for review.

RESOLVED

That the report be
noted.

29.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The reports relating to the
remaining items on the agenda have been withheld from public
circulation and deposit pursuant to Section 100(B)(2) of the Local
Government Act 1972 on the grounds that the matters may be
determined with the press and public excluded.

The Committee may decide that
the press and public be excluded from the meeting during
consideration of the following items pursuant to Section 100(A)4 of
the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the
likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1,
2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972
and public interest would not be served in publishing the
information.

Minutes:

That the press and
public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the
following item pursuant to Section 100(A)4 of the Local Government
Act 1972 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of
exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 2 and 3 of Part 1 of
Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and public interest
would not be served in publishing the information.

30.

Waivers and Non Adherences

To note the approved WARNS issued between the
1st of February 2017 and the 31st of August
2017.